ISLAMABAD: Criticizing Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government for agreeing to a five-point deal to end the protests of the past few days, the opposition said on Thursday that the move sends out the wrong message by encouraging anyone, who doesn’t agree with the law of the land, to hold the country ransom to it.
Leading the protests were supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a far-right party objecting to the Supreme Court’s verdict last week to acquit a Christian woman accused of blasphemy. The deal included a pledge to have Aasia Bibi, 51, placed on the country’s Exit Control List, among other conditions.
Objecting to the move, opposition member Sherry Rehman, from the Pakistan People’s Party said that the entire nation “was at a standstill” for the past few days. “If we start to examine [what prevailed], they [the federation] will say ‘This was also done before; the state entered a similar agreement last year as well,” she said.
Reasoning that the opposition didn’t intend to “taunt or challenge” the government, she questioned what kind of a message was being sent out by striking a deal with demonstrators after the government had failed to protect its citizens.
Khan had earlier said in a televised speech that the state would protect people’s lives and properties, adding no vandalism or traffic chaos would be allowed.
But around 1,200 people have been arrested and more than 135 cases of vandalism have been registered.
Political analyst and former ministerial adviser Mosharraf Zaidi said Khan should have not spoken with such confidence if he was not going to follow through on his instructions.
“It sends a message that the PTI is not interested in being a dominant political force for the next generation,” Zaidi told Arab News, rather the ruling party is “interested in welcoming the TLP as a mainstream political force.”
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry defended the decision to strike a deal, telling a foreign channel: “We need to take steps against extremism…we need to come up with a permanent solution. This is just firefighting…our government is committed to the cure.”
But one analyst, former military man Amjad Shuaib, said the government was wise to accede to the TLP’s demands.
“Public perception would have turned against PTI because those that were defending the message of the Prophet are being assaulted,” he said.
The agreement could have been better and improved upon, Shuaib told Arab News. Given the circumstances, such as the religious spin of the demonstrations, any standoff would have had a devastating effects on the ruling party, he said.
Government faces flak over TLP deal
Government faces flak over TLP deal
- Opposition criticism moves for sending out wrong message to protesters
- Deal ended days of violence in Pakistan following Aasia Bibi’s acquittal
UN torture expert decries Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s detention
- Khan’s party alleges government is holding him in solitary confinement, barring prison visits
- Pakistan’s government rejects allegations former premier is being denied basic rights in prison
GENEVA: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture warned Friday.
Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said.
“His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
Khan an all-rounder who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.
Edwards said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Initially a strong backer of the country’s powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan’s supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post this month accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
According to information Edwards has received, visits from Khan’s lawyers and relatives are frequently interrupted or ended prematurely, while he is held in a small cell lacking natural light and adequate ventilation.
“Anyone deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity,” the UN expert said.
“Detention conditions must reflect the individual’s age and health situation, including appropriate sleeping arrangements, climatic protection, adequate space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”
Edwards has raised Khan’s situation with the Pakistani government.
